Early Sega Genesis adopters remember Sega's Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse as one of the system's initial highlights, a platformer bursting with charm and gorgeous level design. So Disney trademarking Castle of Illusion more than 20 years later is certainly cause of cautious excitement.

Siliconera spotted Disney's a new trademark for Castle of Illusion filed late last month with the US Patent and Trademark Office, an update that doesn't tell us much other than that the Mouse House is interested in protecting that name for some reason.

So why is Disney finally giving Castle of Illusion some attention? The company is rumored to be busy working on Epic Mickey 2 for multiple platforms, so a competing Mickey Mouse game seems somewhat unlikely.

A Virtual Console or downloadable release via some other digital platform could be a possibility, as could the existence of Castle of Illusion as a strong pre-order incentive for the aforementioned Epic Mickey sequel.